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ALGOMA, Miss. (WCBI)-Rifle season for deer hunting has only been open a week and hunting businesses are seeing numbers grow especially around the holidays. We talk with some business owners about why this weekend is one of the busiest of the hunting season.

Deer season is only open a few short months, so hunters get out to the woods as much as they can before the season closes. When theres more time, that’s when there’s an increase in customers at local deer processors and gun shops. Richey Crew, a gun shop owner, says busiest time is usually around the holidays.

“When you are the busiest that’s when people have more time off. And Thanksgiving and Christmas is when they got the most time off and that’s why it’s the busiest. You see more people in the woods of course you see more people buying guns,” says Richey Crew.

The weekend following Thanksgiving can be the busiest time for deer processors. They can process over 40 deer a day which means longer hours for them.

Every year at Fork N Road Deer processing the employees know what they need to make it through the busiest time of the season.

“We just get everybody lined up. We know it’s going to be a lot of people and a lot of people hunting and everything. We have skinners, and cutters, and everything else set make guys and we let it go from there,” says Jack Larmour.

It takes up to a day to process a deer…that’s if their aren’t a couple of deer ahead of you in line.

“Just be patient guys because it takes us four to five days and most hunters like them to hang anyway to let them dry. It’s five, six, to seven days right now. As many deer that are coming in right now,” says Larmour.

After 30 years of business, Richey says even though each year varies when it gets closer to the holidays, he is always prepared.

“You see things change over the years but the biggest thing you know they’re going to need ammunition. You know their scope not giving to be sited in or something is going to be wrong or something broke. So you stock up on the parts,” says Crew.

Whether you kill a big buck or not this season, it’s important to appreciate the time with others.

Rifle season closes temporarily on November 30th and will open back up on December 24th.